A respectful suggestion from a forum browser

[northridge 2]

If it is technically possible, how about dividing the PMDG forum into product sections?Since the release of the MD11 and the enthusiastic response from customers and just plain curious, this forum has become unwieldy.There are still a whole load of us who are learning the Boeings, remember.Of course, if it isn

[tcas_climb 45]

i think it used to be like that a loong time before, but they merged it for whatever reason

[ianoakrhind 0]

>If it is technically possible, how about dividing the PMDG>forum into product sections?>Since the release of the MD11 and the enthusiastic response>from customers and just plain curious, this forum has become>unwieldy.>There are still a whole load of us who are learning the>Boeings, remember.>Of course, if it isn

[CaptKornDog 281]

I agree, that would be very helpful. I've had a couple of posts and questions that have gone without resolution so far...a bit frusterating seeing them get bumped off the first page and disappear.

[Headley 26]

I agree with you all, it is standard behaviour in other fora around ...However, it COULD help us if EVERY new topic subject should begin with the aircraft involved, like MD11: ..., B744 FS9: ... , B744 FSX: ..., etc ...This is until now good behaviour for most of the topics, but there are still a lot of topics beginning with : "Help please ...".Offcourse, if you post in this forum it is for help, but it could help people to state in their topic subject the reason for their help AND the aircraft involved. I have the - maybe not so good - attitude to leave these topics left who are not stating the aircraft involved or the very specific reason ...But it would be alot more helpfull if the forum was divided into subfora ...Keep up the good work

[Mace 1,902]

I think it would be difficult to make another forum because AVSIM would have to do it.I think the best solution is to preface the subject line in any thread with (MD11) or (B1900D) or (B747) and similar... (those are square brackets)RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[Check_Airman 3]

This has come up many times. I really wish PMDG would consider it. The Avsim forum software is terribly antiquated. Hopefully with the switch to the new forum in 2 days, we can move on to having the some semblance of organization in the forum.P

[Tabs 2,790]

Guys, we have considered this actually and may do it at some point. One of the reasons we haven't though is that we felt it would decrease the amount of "cross-pollination" if you will between users of different products. Ie, if someone mainly only flies the 747, s/he may not see an answerable question about the B1900 that someone posts, just because it's in the dedicated B1900 forum. Stuff like that.

[stefltt 11]

Hi,but if someone flies only the B744, why will he read a question related to B1900 which does not interest him ? I don't think that everyone here in this forum is reading every topic each one by one. Personnally, I only fly the MD11 and the B744, and i never read topics related to other aircraft.Sometimes, the guy who is interested only in the B1900 have to read all subject topic to find one that interested the B1900 and sometimes it could be on page 4 or 5 of the forum. So he takes him 5 minutes to try to find THE interesting topic.At last I think when you're doing an advanced search, it's more easy to do the search to a specific directory, eg MD11, where the results could be less (say maybe 6 for example) than if we search all the PMDG Forums all type aircraft which could give us about 20 topics for a "similar" search.

[VHOJT 167]

In short, as I have said before, the "cross-pollination" is a HUGE plus for the PMDG forum. Face it, the forum is not that busy. A post that goes unanswered for a day will usually be somewhere near the top of the second page. Not exactly moved very far.Here are some reasons I strongly believe the single forum is better:1) This forum is a central meeting place for those who enjoy flying PMDG's complex airliner simulations. Many postings/questions apply to operations in general, spanning not just one type of airliner. Coming across such posts is difficult if you have to browse through different forums (which, if this one is anything to go by, would move slowly if it were split up) which you wouldn't ordinarily visit. This makes it so much harder to see a topic that catches your eye, open it up, and at the end of it say, 'I never knew that...' and you are somewhat the wiser. I'll give you an example. I saw an MD-11 anti-ice question yesterday, which brought to my attention a gap in my knowledge regarding 747-400 icing procedures. I made a post, and am now the wiser thanks to a kind reply. Much less likely to occur in a split forum, as I don't own the MD-11 and wouldn't out of habit check an MD-11 forum. I mean, why would I? The majority of posts would be irrelevant to me. But some are useful - and they would slip through the net.2) Planning on getting the MD-11 myself when the FS9 version comes out, I enjoy seeing posts regarding its operation etc. It helps give me an appreciation of the sorts of difficulties other users are encountering.3) The PMDG forum, as I have said, is not all that fast-moving. Its present pace in now way makes information difficult to find, nor easy to miss.4) The idea of a central meeting place is excellent, as we have it now. Posts on matters that aren't support e.g. general ops or other discussions may be less likely to be answered. This is because, generally, MD-11 users will stick to their forum, 744s to theirs etc. Even if there was a general forum, sometimes it would be difficult to know where to post it, as it may relate to both the aircraft and some form of general discussion. Once things start getting categorised too much, they become hard to "happen upon". The forum has a powerful search function. It is in no way difficult to use.In general, splitting the forum, is in essence, sort of "splitting the community". It makes it less of a central meeting place, where you can often happen upon interesting topics, as it is now, and more of a place you just go to for support, because you don't want to trawl through multiple forums trying to "happen" upon an interesting post.Just my two bob.CheersRudy :)

[Check_Airman 3]

While I appreciate the "cross-pollination" idea, I still think that discrete forums would be better. If I'm a 744 pilot who is able to help 737 guys, I'll be browsing the NG forum. Also, instead spending 20 minutes sifting through 20 weak search results, users would be happier to spend 5 minutes going through 5 strong search results. The end result is happier customers.It's a win-win. People only interested in 1 product won't have to worry about "interference" from other products, and those interested in everything can visit everywhere.PMDG expressed a concern for the amount of time it would take to organize all the old posts. I have previously volunteered my time to work with a few people to sort the old posts. The sooner we do this, the better. With each new day and new product, the task will simply get harder and harder.Paul

[Check_Airman 3]

A perfect example in support of my above point came up here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...62068&mode=fullMower waited nearly 3 hours to get a response to his question. That would probably not have been the case if we had discrete forums. He would have had the answer in about an hour.Paul

[ukflight 11]

:-hmmm It would also have been 'about an hour' if Mower had been a little more explicit in the question. I favour the idea of starting the topic with the aircraft involved. The forum could then be searched using the aircraft as the search parameter.

[batchelork 0]

I have raised the issue of identifying the a/c type in the subject heading a number of times in the past. Given that the forum is not going to change in the foreseable future using the subject heading seems to be the best alterative for the time being.

[vonmar 122]

Before I purchased the PMDG737-800 I came to this forum for a look.It was very awkward and time consuming.My first impression was and is, there are too many products in the "mix" for questions and answers here.IMO, the OP (northridge) hit the nail on the head..................................................."Since the release of the MD11 and the enthusiastic response fromcustomers and just plain curious, this forum has become unwieldy.There are still a whole load of us who are learning the Boeings, remember."Also, Ian mentioned, which I agree with:........................................"I ONLY fly Boeings and have to plough through endless MD-11 stuff to find Topics of relevance to me. I am sure the same is true for MD users!"I would much prefer to search or ask a question in a specific product(aircraft type/model) section of the forum.If the answer is not found there, then search do the entire forum.